OH I AM SO READY TO GO!!!

MAY 25 CAN NEVER BE HERE SOON ENOUGH!!


Well, I have got my plane ticket booked. I thougth that would be really stressful, but it really wasn't near as stressful as I thought. I have just about everything I need for my trip. And to say the least GOD IS BEYOND AMAZING!!!

It is so hard waiting right now. When you absolutely know God has called you somewhere. I believe is where you're heart is 100%. And this week I have had to stop and ask God several times to reveal my purpose to me while I am here. My life right now is not easy, with finals, school, and then getting ready to go to Peru. When you are called to something and your heart is in another place, you just get careless. I just want to be where my heart is. I am so ready to go to Peru that it is unreal. I long for the day that I will be somewhere my phone does not work, there is no t.v., and my computer and ipod will be at home.

Please continue to pray for me. Pray for school, but pray also that I will not forget my purpose here in the US. Pray for safety and also pray for the other 100 students who have committed to missions in Peru for the summer of 2009.

"BE the church!"

Again, it is amazing to see how God has been preparing me for the past year, even when I didn't see or know it. I was blessed with the privilage to be a youth director of a small church for seven months and this is something I got to share with the church a year ago.

Not long ago, I came across this quote "Don't go to church, BE the church." I think we have gotten so caught up in our ways, that we do not even realize what and who the church is supposed to be. The church is not just a building with stained glass windows. I got curious and looked the word church in Webster's Dictionary and one of its definitions is "a body of believers." I like that,another way I like to refer to the church is God's greenhouse. It nourishes us and helps prepare us for who we need to be. Rirst things first, Jesus didn't die for a building Jesus died for me and you. But after I read this quote, I could not help but think "How am I supposed to be the church?"

First, it has to start with prayer. Praying for fire. The fire that John Wesley talks about people coming for miles to watch burn. And praying for passion. Passion to see my colleges classmates turn to God, and passion to see my church thrive for you.

Second, being the church starts with me being a missionary to the mission field. And that mission field starts at my school and continues with the homeless people I see on the street. And I pray that I can really be a missionary to the mission field by loving the unlovable. This world will know we are Christians by our love.

Third is realizing I have a ministry. My ministry is not just at church, but at my school. Where I don't want to be another face in the sea of faces. I want to be somebody, somebody for God. I really believe He has put me there for a reason, and I want to make sure I follow His command. I want people to be able to look at me and say "Hey I want what she has." And I realize if they don't then I'm in trouble because I am lacking something. God has been SO great to me. He has set my feet to dancing; he has set my heart on fire. He has given me a wonderful church family that I adore. And I wanted a job as a part-time youth director and he has given me that job. And I want all of the people in my mission field to know that God can do the same thing for them. He is so much bigger than any pain or addiction they will ever have. He is so much bigger than their parents' marriage or anything another guy or girl could ever offer.

One another thing I pray for is that I will live my faith unashamed. That I will speak and stand up when I need to. And I pray that when God puts divine appointments in my way, I will see them and not pass them by. Our greatest purpose in this world is to know God and make God known. The least I could ever do is say "Hey, do you know of a man named Jesus? Let me tell you what he has done for me. Better yet, Let me tell you what he did for you?" and being the church while we're in the world.

MY Calcutta

Here is a blog I wrote last July. It is so amazing to see where God is calling me now, but this still applies to me here in the US, and the mission field. I love to read this today, it constantly reminds me who I supposed to be and why I am here. I God speaks to you through this.

Mother Theresa urged her fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to find their own Calcutta. And recently God has telling me to do the same thing. And I have realized God has blessed me with a place to claim as my own Calcutta, Wallace State Community College. God has placed me at a school full of non-Christians for a reason and a place of service. Everyday I see many people who have not accepted Christ, and they don’t even have a relationship with him. I want to make a difference, and be who God has called me to be. I want to let people know about Christ by me being the hands and feet of Jesus Christ. I want them to see Jesus in me. I want them to have a relationship with mine and their Heavenly Father. I want to be continuously growing in Jesus Christ; because I want to see the people around me grow. Grow in their faith and children of God. I want to be a light in a dark world. I want to speak to the people that nobody ever talks to. And live each day like it was my last. I know it will not be easy, but Jesus is always by my side. I thank God for an opportunity to serve, love, and make a difference. I am ready to go any distance I have to go, and do anything I have to do. And I pray I will not forget my purpose and calling.

“God authorized and commanded me to commission you: Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I’ll be with you as you do this, day after day, right up to the end of the age.”

~Where is YOUR Calcutta?

Where is your place of service?

Are you willing to serve regardless of what others will say?

Are you willing to serve regardless of inconvenience to you?

UPDATE!

Well, this week has been crazy, but amazing.

I have started communicating with the missionaries I will be working with this summer. And it has been hard. The only way we really have to communicate is through e-mail and they have been so considerate and so nice. They have answered every question and made me and my fellow missionaries know they are praying for us daily. And that is a major blessing, they even asked if there was anything they could specifically pray for.

And then there is the travel arrangements. I have talked to the travel agent as well. This has been so stressful. I was worried about my plane ticket getting booked but I felt better after talking with some of my teammates about this. My plane ticket will be booked this upcoming week, hopefully. I have been worried about flying into and out of the country by myself but I guess if that is the only worry I will ever have concerning this trip, then I would forget about Jesus. Unfortunately, I will have other worries I feel, but Jesus holds my world in His hands. I will be OK.

I ask that you please continue to pray for me. Pray for the wonderful missionaries, who give up their entire life and go somewhere completely out of their comfort zone, but pray that God will help and lead them as they lead us college students this summer. Pray for the travel arrangements, that God will have His complete will when it comes to which flight to take and when to arrive and return.

My Testimony.

I just realized I have not put my testimony on here and I am sure most people just know of me and don't really know me. So, here it goes...

I come from a single parent home. My mom pretty much raised me all by herself and never gave up. I never went to really went to church consistently nor did my parents ever care if I went to church. When I was twelve years old my grandmother started going to church and shortly after I started going to church with her. One day during Sunday School, my teacher asked if I was a Christian. I said no and he asked if I wanted to be a christian and I said yes. Later on after the a.m. service I talked to my youth pastor, at the time, and he sat down and lead me to Christ and through the sinners prayer. Before that I saw no purpose for living and was living how ever I wanted to. I decided to get serious with God and lay myself aside.

Little did I know that day would be the beginning of a wonderful, blessed, and life with Jesus Christ.

Me & my earthly dad talked 15 minutes within 5 years and, today we do not have the best relationship. Oh, but I have an amazing Heavenly Father who has never left or forsaken me. What more could I want?

My parents divorced when I was about 4 years old, but I have seen and know God used it for His glory.

Never have I had a boyfriend, kissed a boy, or held a boys hand, and I don't say that to be a goody two shoes. I want young girls to know, the only man that can give genuine and consistent fulfillment is Jesus Christ.

I have got to be a part time youth director for 7 months and a camp counselor for 2 summers, and I think God I got to do something I have always wanted to do.

I go to school at Wallace State and majoring in Elementary Education. Many people complain about it, but I know it's what God wants me to do.

I went to Honduras when I was 16, and never really thought I would ever be going to another country. This summer I am going to Peru for 10 weeks and can absolutely not wait. I know God is going to do some amazing things.

Today, my mom faithfully goes to church and my dad does not, nor does anyone else in my family, really. God has given me hope that one day they will. They don't quite understand why I would go to Peru, especially for 10 weeks. I remember the joy I had that one day 8 years ago, and I thank God I do , because that is the same joy that I long for this very day. I have to stop and realize just how am I living around my unsaved family and my unsaved classmates? I hope in a way that would represent Jesus and make them want to be saved and know Jesus. God has done some amazing things in my life and I know only he could do it. I thank God for the people who cared enough about me to make sure I know Jesus, because without them I have no idea where I would be.

OH, SO BLESSED AM I!

I have truly been blessed my entire life and it has been here recently that I have realized just how blessed I really am.

I have wanted to go to Peru for 5 years; God blessed me with the opportunity.

I have the opportunity to go to Peru, God opening the door to go to Peru was a real blessing.

God opened the door to Peru and I was blessed with a loving and so very supportive church family and never-ending support.

My church and family supported me having a yard sale to raise money, and what do you know, I was blessed with all the funding I have needed so far.

I know when we often think of blessings we think financially, but stop and think. The absolute GREATEST blessings of all are those that are not so money like. I mean we all are so very blessed to have the gift of life and not a one of us deserve it. And the love of God, our parents, or a spouse is a gift from God. It is a blessing to live in such a country to where we can carry a Bible and even own a Bible. I mean we can go to a local bookstore and buy a Bible and we have the availability to many resources. We can worship Jesus freely and in some countries it is illegal to use any Christian terminology.

I have also been so blessed recently by God providing the funding for this trip to Peru. Several people have given me some money, and I know they do not want any glory for it. With the economy like it is today, and people to just help me like they have, that goes to prove that this economy is so unstable but my God is always so stable. I have never really had to worry about how I was going to pay for this trip, because my God provided and that was a blessing to see God provide like He has. When you take a leap of faith onto the mission field, it literally changes your whole life. You see things with a new set of eyes. I wish you could see some things the way that I have.

I have been blessed way beyond measure and I am sure in more ways than I even begin to realize but God is not finished with me, yet.

He Called Me.

For a while now, I have felt God calling me into missions, with the opportunities through NAMB and IMB, I decide to go with that calling. Since day 1 I have said two things, (1) I thought I would be in a place I never thought I would be and (2) and if my parents would go for it, I would be going international. I had the opportunity to talk with several former summer missionaries and while talking to one of them I told her several times “if my parents would go for it I would be going international.” And she told me if God is calling me to do something I needed to it. Right then I felt God calling like never before. That night I prayed and woke up the next day and felt God calling even more. The first thing I done was called my mom and talked to her, and she was at peace and ok with me going on international missions for the summer. That day I received confirmation from God like I never had before.

Ever since I have felt God calling me into international missions, Peru is the only country God placed on my heart. And I found out March 10, 2009 that I am going to Peru. I leave May 25 and will be returning August 2. I am so excited. I have already seen God do some amazing things but the best is yet to come. I feel like I am going to learn to trust God in a new way this summer, but that’s ok. I am ready for it.